I think you are confusing ceiling with expectations. When I discuss a players "expectations", I'm discussing the most likely expected outcome. The possibility is there for him to be a Mike Trout, Miguel Cabrera, etc. level player, but I don't think that should be considered the most likely expected outcome. How many of the past #1 overall prospects that I listed ever came close to Trout/Cabrera level?

 

  Even if Kris Bryant doesn't end up having a career in which he was a top 5 player from an extended amount of time,  I still believe that the Cubs organization privately believes Bryant will achieve top 5 heights.   And that Bryant welcomes having the expectations.  

 

  Here's an illustration of my long term confidence in Bryant from a Fantasy Baseball perspective.   Like I mentioned earlier in this thread,  the league I'm in has a 3 keeper player format for the first time this year.   With that in mind,  I rated Bryant 5th in all of MLB,  believing that he's going to be a differential player for a long time. 

---

Brewers...

---

  Even if Kris Bryant doesn't end up having a career in which he was a top 5 player from an extended amount of time,  I still believe that the Cubs organization privately believes Bryant will achieve top 5 heights.   And that Bryant welcomes having the expectations.  

 

  Here's an illustration of my long term confidence in Bryant from a Fantasy Baseball perspective.   Like I mentioned earlier in this thread,  the league I'm in has a 3 keeper player format for the first time this year.   With that in mind,  I rated Bryant 5th in all of MLB,  believing that he's going to be a differential player for a long time. 

 

Again, I think you are using the terms "ceiling" and "expectations" interchangeably, and I don't think that is the right way to evaluate players.

 

My top 5 in a keeper player format:

Mike Trout, Paul Goldschmidt, Andrew McCutchen, Giancarlo Stanton, Clayton Kershaw.

 

Then you have other young talents like Yasiel Puig, Anthony Rizzo, Jose Altuve, Anthony Rendon, Bryce Harper, Jose Fernandez.

Then you have other elite prospects like like Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa.

 

Bryant has potential to be a top 5 player, but expecting him to be better than guys like Paul Goldschmidt and Clayton Kershaw is setting his expectations too high, in my opinion. I feel like you are over-valuing rookies the way you over-valued George Springer coming into this season.

---

What's your issue? I post on Rotoworld and on Rivals, and both boards have people with unrealistic expectations for Bryant. That is all that I said..... that there are people with unrealistic expectations for Bryant. You need to stop being so stop being so combative with everything I post.

Youre not off. Many fans and websites had extremely high and unrealistic early expectations for him.

---

TravC59, aka JacksJags. @TravC59 on Twitter
;
; "This is really good, you want a bite, Honey?"

Raise It ! Pirates split with Cubs, (after blowing game two!)


Polanco and Marte starting to heat up.

---

TravC59, aka JacksJags. @TravC59 on Twitter
;
; "This is really good, you want a bite, Honey?"

I'm glad to see the Rays hanging in there. Smyly is back. Cobb will be soon. There's been a ton of injuries but it's given some young players big league experience. Beckham has been a pleasant surprise.

---

I'm glad to see the Rays hanging in there. Smyly is back. Cobb will be soon. There's been a ton of injuries but it's given some young players big league experience. Beckham has been a pleasant surprise.

 

Nice to see the Smyly trade working for both teams.

---

I'm glad to see the Rays hanging in there. Smyly is back. Cobb will be soon. There's been a ton of injuries but it's given some young players big league experience. Beckham has been a pleasant surprise.

A healthy rotation and a healthy bullpen makes this EASILY the best staff in the East and arguably top 5 in baseball if Odorizzi and Archer improvements are real.


Way too many people wrote this team off because of all the changes in the offseason. Just need Longoria to play like he isn't a year or two from retirement.

---

Wainwright out for the season. Woo pitchers hitting!

---

Wainwright out for the season. Woo pitchers hitting!

 

While I will probably always prefer pitchers batting than having a DH,  this is a very unfortunate injury for the Cardinals and for MLB in general.   Assuming it's an Achilles tear,  it remains to be seen if Adam Wainwright will ever regain his pre-injury ability again.  His age works against him.

 

I'm more optimistic that Blue Jays Pitcher Marcus Stroman,  who torn his ACL fielding a bunt in Spring Training,  will get his career back on track as early as 2016.

---

A healthy rotation and a healthy bullpen makes this EASILY the best staff in the East and arguably top 5 in baseball if Odorizzi and Archer improvements are real.


Way too many people wrote this team off because of all the changes in the offseason. Just need Longoria to play like he isn't a year or two from retirement.

 

Archer has been terrific so far. On the mound again today.

---

;

;

A healthy rotation and a healthy bullpen makes this EASILY the best staff in the East and arguably top 5 in baseball if Odorizzi and Archer improvements are real.


Way too many people wrote this team off because of all the changes in the offseason. Just need Longoria to play like he isn't a year or two from retirement.

 

I think Souza and Beckham have exceeded expectations. And Rene Rivera is giving them more at the plate than any catcher in recent years.

 

It is pretty amazing to think how many games have been lost to injury on this team and they are tied for first. Very early in the year but good to see.

---

Longoria 7 straight hits. He went from starting horrible to batting over .300 in less than 24 hrs.

---

Another great start for Archer. Rays Up!

---

Buccos Sweep. Raise the Jolly Roger Boys! Onto a big series at Chicago!

---

TravC59, aka JacksJags. @TravC59 on Twitter
;
; "This is really good, you want a bite, Honey?"

Another great start for Archer. Rays Up!

I don't think the Jays want to see the Rays any time soon. The Rays are 6-1 against them so far this season. Plus, the Rays handed the Red Sox the first series loss earlier in the week. I have to admit, I wasn't expecting this at all.

---

http://www.masnsports.com/media.php?show_id=2476036&p=

---

I don't think the Jays want to see the Rays any time soon. The Rays are 6-1 against them so far this season. Plus, the Rays handed the Red Sox the first series loss earlier in the week. I have to admit, I wasn't expecting this at all.

 

It looks like the AL East and AL West are wide open this season.  

 

In the AL East,  a case probably could be made for each team finishing anywhere from 1 to 5.  

 

The Rays have had a good farm system and overall baseball operation for many years.   Considering their modest payroll over the years,   they have done very well.    It's not easy to compete with the bankroll of the Yankees and Red Sox.  Yet,   the Rays more than held their own in that division.   It would be good for baseball,  at least from my perspective,  if the Rays ended up winning the AL East this season.

---

For the mid-late 2000's, the Rays had one of the best farm systems in the league. Poor drafting had caused it to decline. Part of the reason why not that many people were upset to see Andrew Friedman leave for the Dodgers. They did a great job this offseason in acquiring pieces like Rivera and Souza.

---

So this upcoming Sunday night is Sox/Yankees on ESPN.

 

That'll be Yankees in 3 of 5 Sunday Night games this season.

---

;

;